Haven House Children’s Hospice in Woodford Green has launched a new campaign to highlight the vital role it plays in supporting children and families living with a life-limiting condition.
The campaign, launched to coincide with Children's Hospice Week, focuses on feedback from families that say Haven House is a lifeline for them when caring for a child with a serious illness.
In a recent survey conducted by the hospice, 92per cent of families said that Haven House improves the quality of their child's life.
It provides day care, overnight stays, end of life care, bereavement support, as well as life-enriching activities such as sensory play, music therapy and physiotherapy to seriously ill children and their families.
Malachi, who was diagnosed at six months old with vein of Galen malformation, and his family are the faces of the campaign.
The family was referred to Haven House in 2016 and his mum, Sylvia, uses the hospice for overnight respite.
Eileen White, Haven House's director of care, said: "When a child is diagnosed with a serious life-limiting condition, the whole family is thrown into turmoil. We are here to support them through these difficult times. Haven House offers an extraordinary blanket of care and compassion that wraps around the whole family.
"The parents we support often tell us that we are their lifeline, and that they don't know where they'd be without us.
"Parents often provide round-the-clock care, with little sleep for both them and their child. One mother described her son being awake for 20 hours a day, with another having to monitor his child's breathing every hour in case she needed oxygen or was at risk of choking.
"Our skilled nursing team care for children in the hospice and at home gives parents a break. Anything from a few hours or a full day away from caring helps parents stay well and feel better able to cope."
The campaign encourages people to think about the one thing that they could not live without - for many this could be simple things such as chocolate, mobile phones or football.
For the families of Haven House the answer is something quite different - it's the essential care that the hospice provides.
The hospice is calling on supporters to help raise £3,000 to support its work so that it can continue giving children and their families the support they need.
To find out more visit www.havenhouse.org.uk/appeal/summerappeal
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